Beautiful Yummy CGI Icing on a Stale Old Cake Base!

Rating: 3/10 (4 August 2013)

I had high expectations and was hyped up to see Pacific Rim, but as soon as I was into the first 10 minutes I realized what kind of context the story would be put in.
I want to start with the positive aspects: The visuals are just breathtaking. Every second there was action I found myself scanning the screen as fast as I can to notice how they rendered the CGI and put together the visuals. One of the best eye-candies that my brain has witnessed recently. But this is how I mostly spent my two hours at the cinema, caring about pretty much nothing else about the movie. This takes us to the negative side of my review: The acting, the story, the part when you bite down the cake and the bits that hit your palate is so cheesy and done so many times, I kept thinking during the movie if I could ever stand to see another Hollywood movie in my life again. The dialogues, the predictable tear-jerking moments, pep-talks, plot progress, characters, cute elements that make the audience go "aww", everything was there in the most cheesy and kitsch way possible.
I could just not believe Del Toro would come up with such "Teen-oriented" action in this way. But this might be my problem, as the director himself said that the movie should not be taken "realistically". Yes, I am aware that it is a sci-fi fantasy action movie where it should be viewed with an open mind with imagination, but the holes in the plot just put the movie in the awkward grey area where the scenes sometimes just feel like they've been glued together and manipulated to have it "by the Hollywood book"! I won't give any spoilers but you'll hear some dialogues that are clearly put there to add excitement and suspense, and the next scene you'll see some actions completely disproving previous statements.
All in all I enjoyed the movie very much visually, but the intellectually questionable aspects of the plot really stripped the movie of the complete fun that I could've gotten out of it.
You should go see it definitely, but just prepare to experience it with a teenager perspective.
To enjoy Pacific Rim fully, just have an open mind. Actually, I'd like to rephrase that: Keep your "Eyes" open, and your mind a little closed!